Newsletter

Bob.Self@jacksonville.com/The Times-Union--3/21/12--The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Cornerback Aaron Ross who was at EverBank Field to talk with the media Wednesday afternoon. (The Florida Times-Union, Bob Self)

Don Ryan Associated Press Sanya Richards-Ross appears during a preliminary heat of the 400-meter race during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., last year.

Nousha Salimi Associated Press Sanya Richards-Ross and her husband, Aaron Ross, together at the Laureus Awards in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 2010.

“I love to watch her run.”

Aaron Ross made the statement when asked what he is most anticipating about going to London to watch his wife race in the Olympics. But it is a simple sentence that explains so much about his relationship with track star Sanya Richards-Ross.

It’s how the Jaguars cornerback fell in love with his wife. It’s part of why their marriage succeeds.

Earlier this month in Austin, Texas, Ross reflected on that to his wife as the two completed a workout together.

“We kept each other in the sport longer,” Richards-Ross said. “He said, ‘If it weren’t for you I don’t know if I’d still be doing this.’ ”

His perseverance, with her help, meant playing for two Super Bowl champion teams with the New York Giants. This year the cornerback signed with the Jaguars in free agency.

Her perseverance, with his help, has turned her into the favorite to win the 400 meters this year – which would be her first individual Olympic gold medal. She has a chance to win rare double-gold medals in the 400 and 200. And this year, no matter what happens in her races, she’ll get to see the person with whom she most wants to share whatever emotion follows, right away. The Jaguars excused Ross from training camp so he can watch his wife race in London. Football has always prevented Ross from watching his wife’s biggest meets in the past.

“I’m just so, so appreciative of the Jaguars organization and to coach [Mike] Mularkey,” Richards-Ross said. “I understand football is a huge deal in the United States, him coming to a new team … even in Beijing when things didn’t go my way he was the first person I wanted to talk to and I had to call him from my cellphone. I was really devastated and I couldn’t talk to him.

“Now hopefully I’ll be able to share that with him immediately. Being able to run up to him and hug him hopefully for joy of winning my first individual Olympic gold medal.”

He watched her run the very first time he saw her.

It was before Ross’ freshman year at Texas when Richards-Ross was racing in the Texas relays. The Texas relay are a social event as much as a track meet and Ross attended with his mother and brother. Struck by her beauty, he turned to them and declared that when he got to Texas, she would be his girlfriend.

“If someone asked me if I believed in love at first sight before I met Sanya, I would kind of think it was like a fairy tale,” Ross said. “But from the first time I’ve seen her, I wanted her. I’ve been wanting her even more ever since.”

It took a few more steps along with assists from his best friend and her sister for the two to start dating. But once they did they became inseparable.

As they grew closer, their careers rose.

Ross’ Longhorns won the national championship in 2005. In 2006 he won the Jim Thorpe award as the top defensive back in college football. Then the following spring, the Giants drafted him with their first-round pick — 20th overall.

Meanwhile, Richards-Ross became one of American track’s elite. She was part of a gold-medal 4x400 relay team at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and won an individual silver the following year at the world championships in Helsinki. She has been ranked No. 1 in the world for most of the past seven years.

But the difficult moments were when it helped the most to have each other’s support.

It helped Richards-Ross when she was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease (chronic inflammation of blood vessels) in 2007. She later learned she was misdiagnosed, but until then struggled through a taxing regimen of medication. She was on that medication during the Beijing Olympics when she was the favorite in the 400, but faded late and won bronze.

“People don’t realize how much medicine can affect your mental state,” Ross said. “I don’t think she did until she was able to come off of it. It had a lot to do with it, and of course, just having that injury and not being able to run at your top speed. She’s been No. 1 in the world for the past seven years, not being able to go out there and win like she’s used to, it was kind of frustrating for her. I just kind of tried to stand in her corner and encourage her. … Don’t give up, keep fighting.”

Ross went through his own trials. He suffered through several injuries in 2009 and as he recovered, he fell down the Giants’ depth chart.

“It was tough for him,” Richards-Ross said. “My husband is so cool. He doesn’t express himself a lot. He’s not a crybaby. He’ll talk about an issue one time and that’s it. It takes me a little while to get over my disappointments. I’ll cry to my mom, cry to my dad, cry to my sister.

“At first he was frustrated he trained really hard in the fall for that year and he pulled his hamstring, had plantar fasciitis and he was more let down by his body than anything else. That’s when I saw him really rededicate and focus.”

Just as Ross helped his wife become calmer in the face of crises big and small, Richards-Ross helped her husband’s quest to take better care of his body. She helped him learn what to eat and what not to — there is no junk food in their home because neither eats it. She helped his core strength improve.

“We realized our body is our only asset when it comes to being great athletes,” Richards-Ross said. “If we don’t take care of it we’re expendable.”

During an open minicamp practice in Jacksonville recently, a fan asked Ross if he or his wife was faster. Ross gets the question often and enjoys answering that she is definitely faster.

Not a hint of jealously or resentment goes with it — Ross was raised to support the people he loves, not compete with them.

“There’s not too many guys that can honestly say their wife can compete with them in a race,” Ross said. “I like the uniqueness of it. I take it and run with it. I been getting it since my freshman year at school. I know this is what she does and she’s the best in the world at it. I don’t take anything from her. I support it 100 percent.”

Now re-diagnosed with a treatable skin condition rather than the inflammation that causes Behcet’s, Richards-Ross is physically and mentally healthier than ever.

“In 2008 I got so overwhelmed by the possibility of being an Olympic champion and all that goes with it, it made it an impossible task for me, it was so overwhelming,” she said. “This time I’m enjoying the moment, really focusing on the 400.

“… Once that is done I’m going to change my focus [to the 200], change my gear and give it my best shot and hopefully leave with a medal as well.”

Afterward, no matter what happens, she won’t have to wait to see the person she most wants to see. He’ll be right there, watching her run.